The rifle would have served as Goring's personal hunting rifle, and was custom-designed for the prominent official. Bearing the German commercial proof mark of the eagle with "N", it features a double square bridge magnum Mauser action with a scope made by Carl Ziess.

The rifle was purchased by Lester Womac from US army officer Colonel Dick A King in 1951. From August 1944, King served in the3rd Infantry Division of the7th Army, who were some of the first troops to enter the lofty Alpine retreats of Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg, home of the Nazi leadership.

According to a3rd Division historian, "British bombers had already pulverized much of the Nazi compound and had left the Berghof a shell. But truckloads of loot were still to be had, especially wine from the cellars of Field Marshal Hermann Goring, creator of Nazi air power, who had built himself a handsome vacation house near the Berghof..."

It is believed that Colonel King "liberated" the Mauser rifle during the division's brief stay in Obersalzberg. Several days later, Goring and his caravan surrendered bear Radstadt, Bavaria.

Having been convicted at the Nuremberg trials, Goring committed suicide the night before he was due to be hanged.